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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017973">5 Times Bruce Noticed Tony’s ADHD &amp; 1 Time Tony Realised Himself</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thudworm/pseuds/thudworm'>thudworm</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5+1 Things, ADD/ADHD Tony Stark, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:36:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,603</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017973</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thudworm/pseuds/thudworm</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>5 Times Bruce Noticed Tony’s ADHD &amp; 1 Time Tony Realised Himself</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bruce Banner/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619530</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>251</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Tony Stark Bingo 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>5 Times Bruce Noticed Tony’s ADHD &amp; 1 Time Tony Realised Himself</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title: 5 Times Bruce Noticed Tony’s ADHD &amp; 1 Time Tony Realised Himself<br/>Collaborator Name: @thudworm<br/>Card Number: 3093<br/>Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017973<br/>Square Filled: K2- Writing Format: Five Things<br/>Ship/Main Pairing: Tony Stark/Bruce Banner<br/>Rating: Gen<br/>Major Tags: ADHD Tony Stark<br/>Summary: 5 Times Bruce Noticed Tony’s ADHD &amp; 1 Time Tony Realised Himself <br/>Word Count: 2,608</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <ol>
<li><b> Caffeine/stimulants</b></li>
</ol>
<p>It was a good thing he was used to rapidly adapting to change, Bruce thought to himself as he stared around the labs and workshop spaces Tony was showing him. Candyland indeed. </p>
<p>Nothing could have prepared him for what his life was now like, after the Battle of New York, as the media had taken to calling it. Bruce had had every intention of taking SHIELD up on the offer the Black Widow had presented him with when convincing him to come help with the search for the tesseract. To drop off of the radar again, this time with certain interested parties off his back, but then Tony Stark had happened. </p>
<p>Now, here he was- not just living in the residential floors of the newly renamed Avengers Tower with the man, but also working side-by-side with him in the labs and workshop spaces. It really was Candyland.</p>
<p>Tony was obviously different to anyone he’d met before, but one particular difference was the way he could drink coffee like it was water. Which was concerning when Bruce knew that Tony’s heart had to be impacted by the arc reactor. He wasn’t privy to all the details, but there was no way that much caffeine could be good for him.</p>
<p>“Tell me to mind my own business if this is out of line, but don’t you have a heart condition?” Bruce asked. “Surely that much caffeine can’t be good for you.”</p>
<p>Tony simply shrugged. “It’s never had the same effect on me as everyone else. Even back when I was in college, pulling all-nighters.”</p>
<p>That didn’t seem right to Bruce, but he was far from a neuroscientist. Plus, there were all sorts of variations from standard the human body could come up with, so far be it for him to contradict Tony’s own experiences with his body. </p>
<p>Bruce hadn’t planned on bringing it up again, but when Tony asked if he wanted a cup of coffee after midnight he couldn’t avoid it.</p>
<p>“It’s late. I think we should call it a night, instead.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, you’re probably right. We can come back to it with fresh eyes tomorrow,” Tony agreed, before he still poured himself coffee. </p>
<p>“What are you doing?”</p>
<p>“The coffee down here tastes better than the stuff upstairs. I think Clint fucked with the machine.”</p>
<p>“My money’s on Thor having another <em> incident </em>. But that’s not the point. Why are you having coffee when you’re meant to be sleeping?”</p>
<p>“Coffee helps me sleep,” Tony replied. </p>
<p>“Now I’ve heard everything,” Bruce muttered to himself. </p>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li><b> Time blindness</b></li>
</ol>
<p>Being stood up for a date was a new experience for Bruce. He hadn’t exactly been in high demand romantically before the Other Guy came along, and definitely not after. No one could possibly be interested in someone who could kill them in one moment of lost control; except Tony, of course. </p>
<p>When Tony had first invited Bruce on this date, he had been sure it was just confusing phrasing. That Tony had meant to suggest they go get food together and hang out as friends, not ask him on a date. But when Bruce had tried to clarify, Tony had been insistent. </p>
<p>Tony Stark had really asked him, Bruce Banner, on a date.</p>
<p>Bruce had nearly talked himself out of it half a dozen times; and now, sitting here alone in the restaurant being given pitying stares by other diners, he wished he had. </p>
<p>He couldn’t exactly blame Tony for getting cold feet; Bruce wouldn’t exactly have been first in line to be involved with the Other Guy either, if he’d had a choice. After one last check of his phone to rule out having somehow missed an Avengers callout, or other explanation for Tony’s absence, Bruce decided it was time to leave. </p>
<p>Just as he was about to stand, though, Tony burst through the door to the restaurant and made a beeline to Bruce’s table. Bruce had never seen Tony looking so flustered. </p>
<p>“Good you’re still here,” Tony said, and he sounded out of breath. “I’m so sorry. I completely lost track of the time, even though I asked JARVIS to give me warnings and alert me when it was time to get ready, but then I just needed to finish what I was in the middle of, and JARVIS kept reminding me but I tuned him out, and then suddenly it was 8 o’clock and I got here as fast as I could, please don’t hate me.”</p>
<p>Bruce was amazed at just how many words Tony managed to get out without pausing for breath. </p>
<p>“How about you sit before you fall down,” Bruce suggested, and took a seat himself. Some of the diners around them were pointedly focussing on their meals, and he wouldn’t be surprised if later tonight they were trending on social media.</p>
<p>“Please don’t take it personally- I do this all the time. Just ask Pepper. I don’t know how she’s put up with me for so many years when I constantly make her life harder by turning up late to important things. Even with JARVIS right there to remind me.” Tony sighed, then mumbled to himself “I don’t know why I’m always like this.” </p>
<p>Bruce knew he probably wasn’t meant to have heard that last part, and if he hadn't already been convinced of Tony’s sincerity that would have been enough to do it. Tony was genuinely distressed about being late to their first date, and Bruce couldn’t hold it against him. </p>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li><b> Inability to still </b></li>
</ol>
<p>Bruce felt like a teenager on a date where the parents were sitting in the room with them. Not that Bruce had ever actually experienced that first hand, but it definitely felt like his teammates were pointedly avoiding watching him and Tony cuddled together on the couch. </p>
<p>Their relationship was still so new, and this was the first Avengers Movie Night since it had begun. Tony had claimed the loveseat for them to share, earning them a wolf whistle from Nat. </p>
<p>Bruce couldn’t have described anything about the movie if his life depended on it. His focus was drawn entirely to how close Tony was. And he couldn’t let that awareness fade into the background, because Tony had sharp elbows and an inability to sit still for longer than five minutes at a time. </p>
<p>He shifted from having his legs tucked up under him to having them stretched out in front. From leaning to the left to leaning to the right. From keeping his hands in his lap to spreading out across the back of the couch.  </p>
<p>Bruce was used to Tony being in constant motion in the lab, shifting from one task to another, except for when something in particular caught his full attention; but he had expected Tony to be calmer, more settled when relaxing. If anything, though, he was worse. </p>
<p>“Could you stop moving around so much?” Bruce whispered to Tony at a boring moment in the movie. </p>
<p>“Sorry, didn’t realise I was bothering you.”</p>
<p>For the rest of the movie Tony definitely fidgeted less, but he was still distracting to sit next to. He must have realised that he’d still been doing it, and apologised to Bruce about it. “It’s like someone clicking a pen or something, you don’t even notice you’re doing it most of the time.”</p>
<p>In the lab the next day, waiting for his samples to process, Bruce found himself wondering if there was something he could find that would provide an outlet without being so attention-grabbing. He was sure he’d seen something about it before. </p>
<p>Looking at the reviews for various stim toys and tools was like discovering a whole new world he had no idea existed. He followed various links that led him down the rabbit hole of firsthand accounts of adults with ADHD. There was more to it than Bruce had previously realised, and he couldn’t help but notice that there were more than a couple of traits that seemed to match what he’d seen in Tony. </p>
<p>But maybe Bruce was just falling victim to ‘med school hypochondria’; seeing symptoms just because he was looking for them. </p>
<p>Well, regardless of whether or not Tony did have ADHD, there was no harm in buying him a fidget cube to try. Worst case scenario was he didn’t bother using it, and Bruce was out the $20 he spent on it. He could even just pass it off as something he bought just because it was <a href="https://www.antsylabs.com/collections/shop/products/fidget-cube-iron-man"> Iron Man themed </a>, not because it was a stim toy. </p>
<ol>
<li><b> Hyper focus</b></li>
</ol>
<p>“Where is Stark?” Fury demanded to know. </p>
<p>The Avengers were supposed to be attending a mission briefing at SHIELD to prepare for a joint mission to take down the latest wanna-be ruler of the planet, but Tony had headed to SHIELD before the rest of the team at the request of some of the science team. Something about a design he’d created that they couldn't manage to get working on their own. </p>
<p>Everyone turned to look at Bruce at Fury’s question, which was unfair. </p>
<p>“Hey, don’t look at me,” Bruce said. “I’m his boyfriend, not his keeper. But if I had to guess, the first place to look would be down in the labs. I know there was some sort of issue with the design they were working on, he probably just lost track of the time.”</p>
<p>If he sent a message directly to Tony it would probably go unnoticed for several hours, which is why he instead sent it to one of the lab techs.</p>
<p>“Sorry, sorry,” Tony said as he entered the briefing room, his attention still more focussed on the tablet in his hands than the people in the room. He took his seat without looking away from it, and waved a hand at Fury to indicate the meeting should start.</p>
<p>However, for all that Tony was now physically present in the meeting, he wasn’t mentally. When Fury or Hill tried to ask him anything, it took Bruce elbowing him to gain his attention.</p>
<p>Bruce couldn’t help but be reminded of the conversation he had overheard the first time he’d met Tony. Agent Hill asked him when he’d become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics, to which Tony had replied “last night”.</p>
<p>On the way back to the tower, Bruce found his thoughts returning to a few things he’d noticed about Tony. His difficulty with keeping track of time, the hyper-focus, the hyperactivity. He had done some more research after looking into the fidget cube and, though it definitely wasn’t one of his areas of speciality, everything was strongly pointing to the ADHD hypothesis being correct.</p>
<p>He wasn’t sure if he wanted to take his suspicions further, maybe even bring it up with Tony. If he did, though, talking to JARVIS would probably be the next step. With the exception of Colonel Rhodes, JARVIS had known Tony for longer than anyone else, and he was also the one who spent the most time able to observe Tony, at work and at rest. </p>
<p>It would no doubt be an awkward conversation to have with the AI who controlled his living space, but it was important, for Tony’s sake. </p>
<p> </p>
<ol>
<li><b> Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria </b></li>
</ol>
<p>Bruce had a decent idea of where he’d find Tony, and when he made his way down to the ballistics lab his suspicions were proven correct. </p>
<p>He was getting good at reading his boyfriend’s moods (it was still weird to think about even having a boyfriend), so he knew instantly that something was wrong when Tony’s reaction to Clint’s wisecrack about Tony only being useful because he was rich had been silence as he immediately turned and left the room. </p>
<p>Usually a joke like that would have just had Tony firing back with an equally snarky comment, maybe threatening to sell Clint back to the circus in much the same way he told his bots or JARVIS he would donate them to a city college. Half the time it was Tony himself making those jokes at his own expense. But for some reason this time it was different.  </p>
<p>“JARVIS, dial it up to the next level. I want to see a big boom,” Tony instructed, either not noticing or not caring that Bruce had followed him down here. </p>
<p>Tony was definitely taking this harder than Bruce would have expected. He would have to tread carefully here to not make things worse. </p>
<p>“You know Clint didn’t mean it like that, right?” Bruce asked. </p>
<p>“Knowing it and <em> knowing </em> it are two different things,” Tony replied. “It just. Something about it hit hard this time. And I can’t get it out of my head, thinking that he was right. Of course no one wants me around because I’m me, they want me despite that because I’m useful to them. Money or ideas, happened plenty of times before for either.”</p>
<p>Bruce was glad he’d done his research, because this was looking remarkably like one of the symptoms that seemed to have no real awareness outside of ADHD communities- rejection sensitivity dysphoria. Now, obviously, was not a good time for it, but it was becoming clearer to Bruce that broaching the subject of Tony’s presumable ADHD. For the sake of Tony’s self-understanding if nothing else. </p>
<p>But the more important focus right now was being a supportive boyfriend- everything short of the end of the world was less important. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>+1. Tony suggests it about himself</b>
</p>
<p>Tony was nervous about something, but Bruce had no idea what it could possibly be. </p>
<p>Bruce had heard the story of palladium poisoning from Colonel Rhodes and Ms Potts; and, even though he didn’t want to pry into Tony’s personal business, he did ask JARVIS if there was anything he needed to be concerned about. JARVIS had reassured him that there was no risk of harm coming to anyone, which would have to satisfy him for now. Asking for any more details would get him nowhere. </p>
<p>He suspected that something must have happened while Tony was volunteering his time at an after-school program for disadvantaged middle school students, because he’d been preoccupied ever since. </p>
<p>Bruce only had to wait a couple of days before Tony finally cracked and brought up what was bothering him. </p>
<p>“What would you say if I told you I think I have ADHD?” Tony asked, but didn’t give Bruce a chance to answer. “You’ve seen how I get lost in my work, to the point that nothing else registers. Or just lose track of time. I know I’ve annoyed you with the constant fidgeting sometimes. And there’s the caffeine thing.”</p>
<p>“I have to admit I’ve noticed some of the same things, but it almost seemed rude to bring it up when it’s none of my business.”</p>
<p>Tony laughed nervously. “Wow, I have to admit this is not how I saw this conversation going, to be honest. I expected to have to be more convincing.”</p>
<p>“When I first started looking into it, I thought I might have been making something out of nothing, because surely it would have been noticed when you were young. To be blunt about it, it’s not like your symptoms would have been ignored because of your gender, or race, or your family’s economic status.”</p>
<p>Tony laughed again. “I can just imagine the look on Howard’s face if someone tried to tell him there was a ‘problem’ with his son and heir.”</p>
<p>That made sense to Bruce, he knew that Tony hadn’t exactly had a great childhood either. But, given what he’d heard about Howard from people who’d worked with him, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he’d had ADHD as well. </p>
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